30 Who Count: The Good, The Bad, and The Incompetent

They made great cars. They made bad cars. They built great auto companies. They killed iconic brands. They changed the machine that changed the world. Meet the biggest auto industry movers, shakers, and newsmakers of the past 60 years.

They made great cars. They made bad cars. They built great auto companies. They killed iconic brands. They changed the machine that changed the world. Meet the biggest auto industry movers, shakers, and newsmakers of the past 60 years.

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CHRIS BANGLEBMW Design Chief, 1992-2009
Designed the Fiat Coupe, then went to BMW. Designed “flame surfacing” into everything from the Z9 concept to the 7 Series to the Gina Light Visionary Concept.HE SAYS: “I do feel we’ve kick-started the industry. Now I look around and see other car companies are waking up and starting to do good.”WE SAY: The most influential designer since Bill Mitchell.

MALCOLM BRICKLINSubaru Importer, Bricklin Manufacturer, Yugo Importer, Visionary Vehicles
How could Bricklin top his Canadian sports car? By importing the Yugo.HE SAYS: “I brought the worst car in the world into this country, and I could get only 50,000 a year. I sold 163,000 in the first three years, and, in some cases, dealers got $3000 over list.”WE SAY: The very model of a car salesman.

COLIN CHAPMANFounder, Lotus Cars and Team Lotus
Won six Formula 1 constructor’s championships and an Indianapolis 500, pioneered monocoques and rear engines, and mentored Jim Clark. His sports cars are lightweight with great handling.HE SAID: “Adding power makes you faster in the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.”

JOHN Z. DELOREANPackard, Pontiac, Chevrolet Engineer/Executive, DeLorean Motor Company Founder
Gave us the Pontiac GTO, Chevrolet Vega and the iconic time machine in “Back to the Future.” Arrested on drug trafficking charges as his sports car company was failing. Acquitted on an entrapment defense.MOTTO: “The janitor knows which broom is best.”

W. EDWARDS DEMINGStatistician, Manufacturing Production Expert
Improved production efficiency in the U.S., but auto manufacturers largely ignored him. Deming worked in Japan after World War II, where Toyota perfected his methods. Later, the U.S. industry studied Toyota‘s production methods.HE SAID: “There is no substitute for knowledge” and “The most important things cannot be measured.”WE SAY: Imagine if the Detroit Three had listened to him in 1950.

MICHAEL EDWARDESBritish Leyland CEO 1977-82
Came from Alkaline Batteries to take over the government-run remains of the British auto industry, which he promptly augured into the ground. Edwardes shuttered Triumph and MG sports cars. After he left, BL sputtered on until it became BMW’s “English Patient.”HE CALLED BL: “The biggest public-sector lame duck of all time.”WE SAY: Consider that a warning.

SIR JOHN EGANJaguar CEO, 1980-90
A Shell petroleum engineer who went to GM, Massey Ferguson, and BL before he became Jaguar chairman and CEO, he’s widely credited for selling Jaguar to Ford for too much: $2.5 billion in late ’89 (see Don Sullivan’s entry). MOTTO: “The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers.”

VIRGIL EXNERChrysler‘s First Vice President of Styling
“Ex” worked for Raymond Loewy and Studebaker before joining Chrysler’s Advanced Styling Group in 1949. He codesigned some of Chrysler’s best Ghia cars and pioneered the tailfin. For 1957, Ex created the Forward Look. He was blamed for Dodge and Plymouth’s downsized 1962 models and was replaced with Ford‘s Elwood Engle.BOTTOM LINE: Bold enough to challenge GM’s late 1950s design leadership.

ENZO FERRARIFounder, Ferrari
The company bearing Ferrari’s name got up and running just about the time Motor Trend began publication, with the Ferrari 166 M Barchetta launching the year before us and Ferrari’s Formula 1 effort the year after. Since then, Ferrari’s team has won 16 constructors championships.HE SAID: “Aerodynamics are for people who can’t build engines.”

TOM GALEChrysler Design Director, 1985-2000
Influence spanning two generations of cab-forward LHs to the rear-drive Chrysler 300/Dodge Magnum/Charger. His myriad concept cars, beginning with the 1989 Dodge Viper, turned the sleepy Detroit show into the North American International Auto Show.HE SAYS: “You should always try to get your company to the point where you’re being proactive and the others have to react to what you’re doing.”

SOICHIRO HONDAHonda Motor Company President, 1948-73
He began making piston rings in 1937 and established his own motorcycle company in 1948. Then defied the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and started building cars in 1960, followed by his first Formula 1 effort, in 1963.HE TOLD PLAYBOY: “When Congress passes new emissions standards, we hire 50 more engineers and GM hires 50 more lawyers.”

LEE IACOCCAFord President, 1970-78, Chrysler President Then Chairman, CEO, 1978-92
Influence on the original Mustang, Mercury Cougar and Marquis, and Lincoln Mk III. Found work at Chrysler and procured a $1.5 billion bailout, keeping the 1981 K-cars on schedule. Iacocca promptly paid back the loans, launched the ’84 minivans, and bought AMC in 1987.HE SAYS: “Saving Chrysler was good for the whole country.”WE SAY: Still true.

ALEC ISSIGONISBritish Motor Corporation Designer
After launching his career at Humber, he designed the 1948 Morris Minor. The Suez Crisis of 1956 inspired Issigonis to design the influential front-drive, big-on-the-inside, small-on-the-outside hatchback Mini. In the 1960s, he bucked cost cutting at BMC and was pushed out after British Leyland was created in 1969.HE SAID: “Market research is bunk!”WE SAY: Mini’s success proves it.

SEMON “BUNKIE” KNUDSENGM Executive Vice President, 1965-68
Knudsen became Pontiac general manager in 1956 and was told to “make it special or kill it.” He transformed it to GM’s sporty, Wide Track division, then was Chevy general manager from 1961 to ’65. After his promotion to a GM dead-end, Knudsen served 19 months as Ford’s president.HE SAID: “You can sell older people a young car, but you can’t sell young people an older car”

IGNACIO LOPEZGM, Then VW, Then Court
Nicknamed Super Lopez for his ability to cut costs and streamline production at GM, he left for Volkswagen in 1992. GM accused him of taking trade secrets, and he was indicted in 1999 for fraud and transportation of stolen documents. His home country, Spain, refused extradition, noting VW had settled with GM and that he was incapacitated from a 1998 car accident.HE TOLD TIME IN 1992: “I like my wife, but I love GM. We must love our company if we are going to pull it up.”

BOB LUTZGM to BMW to Ford to Chrysler to GM, Again
Influence on Dodge Viper, Pontiac GTO, Solstice and G8, Chevy Malibu, Buick Regal, Cadillac CTS. He’s been GM’s bigger-than-life chief “car guy” since Rick Wagoner hired him in 2001. At GM, he has pushed for better design, more rear drive, and BMW-like dynamics. His New GM post was not so well defined, which may be why he announced his second retirement from GM, effective May 1, 2010.MOTTO: “Often wrong, but never in doubt!”

SIR WILLIAM LYONSMr. Jaguar
With William Walmsley, began building motorcycle sidecars in 1921, graduating to the SS cars of the 1930s. Since the Motor Trend era, he gave us the XK120, XK150, numerous preternatural sport sedans, and the C-, D-, and E-type before selling the company to British Motor Corporation in 1966.HE SAID: “The car is the closest thing we will ever create to something that is alive.”

BILL MITCHELLGM Design Chief, 1958-77
Influence on the 1959 Corvette Sting Ray and the C2 and C3 Corvettes, Mako Shark I, Manta Ray, Corvair, and other division’s compacts, Buick Riviera, Cadillac Eldorado, and his personal Ferrari-styled and powered 1971 Pontiac Firebird Pegasus. From the moment he replaced Earl, Mitchell started to cut back on the chrome and tailfins his predecessor favored.BOTTOM LINE: Arguably GM’s most influential designer.

RALPH NADER“Unsafe At Any Speed”
The first chapter of the lawyer’s 1965 book, entitled “The sporty Corvair,” attacked the revolutionary Chevy compact for its “unsafe” swing-axle rear suspension. GM spied on Nader, triggering a Congressional investigation into the automaker. The Corvair was discontinued in 1969, but Nader is still around. In 2000, he ran for president under the Green party and may have affected the election’s close outcome.HE SAYS: “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”

TAIICHI OHNOFather Of The Toyota Production System
Chinese-born Ohno joined Toyoda Spinning, then moved to Toyoda Motor Company in 1943, where he was assembly manager through the early ’50s. His improvements and development of Lean Manufacturing formed the Toyota Production System. Considered the ruthless manager Toyota needed to improve its quality reputation in the ’60s, he was eventually derailed from the normal executive track and became a consultant.BOTTOM LINE: Toyota needs another Ohno to salvage its current reputation.

ROBERT E. PETERSENFounder, Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Petersen Publishing
He organized a hot-rod show at the Los Angeles armory and launched Hot Rod magazine in January 1948 to publicize it, then started Motor Trend in 1949 so he wouldn’t get left out of new-product launches. In 1994, he opened the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Petersen built up the largest specialty publishing company before he sold it in 1996. From Steve McQueen to Carroll Shelby, he was friends with many Hollywood stars and racers. Quite the car collector too.HE SAID: “Any car’s value is in its provenance. If you have Clark Gable’s Caddy, it just makes it worth more, plus it’s more interesting.”

FERDINAND PIECHVolkswagen AG Chairman
The steely-eyed descendant of Ferdinand Porsche has taken humble VW all the way upscale to the Phaeton with no major consequences. In an internecine plot involving his cousin, Wolfgang Porsche, and a chorus of sharklike executives, Piëch turned the tables on Porsche and had VW gain control of the sports car maker. The outcome probably didn’t matter: Piech owns 13 percent of Porsche stock.HIS (RUMORED) MOTTO: Vorsprung durch Technik (Advancement through Technology).

JURGEN SCHREMPPDaimler (Chrysler) CEO, 1995-2005
Orchestrated the “match made in heaven” when Daimler bought Chrysler in 1998. Chrysler sold Detroit’s most handsome vehicles, but its weaknesses soon became apparent, and Daimler mismanaged its American stepchild. With Mercedes‘ reputation damaged, a Mitsubishi deal unraveling, and smart floundering, Schrempp resigned.HE SAYS: “You never really hear the truth from your subordinates until after ten in the evening.”WE SAY: Too late for Chrysler and Schrempp.

CARROLL SHELBYRacer, Raconteur
The Texas chicken farmer first raced a flathead Ford, then won in such exotic machinery as an Aston Martin DBR1/300 and Maserati 250F. In the ’60s, he bolted progressively bigger Ford engines into AC Acecas and played a major role in Ford’s effort to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.ON THE SHELBY COBRA: “It’s a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car.” WE SAY: Yep.

ROGER SMITHGM Chairman, CEO, 1981-90
Joined GM as an accountant in 1949. When he took over in ’81, GM was falling apart. Smith reorganized and blurred the divisions, established Saturn, cut market share from 46 percent to 35 percent, starred in Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me,” and retired just as GM approached bankruptcy. CNBC called him one of the worst American CEOs of all time.HE SAID: “I’d like to think that if I did anything extraordinary, it was the work that we did in getting the corporation ready for the 21st century.”

JOHN SULLIVANGM’s Unsung Hero
Remember what we said about Sir John Egan’s reputed sales-manship? Well, it was John Sullivan, working from GM’s international department, who made Ford pay $2.5 billion for Jaguar. Sullivan was bidding against Ford for Jaguar, raising the price, without any intention of buying the British marque. Meanwhile, he was negotiating with the Wallenberg family to buy 50 percent of Sweden’s Saab. Arguably a better deal.BOTTOM LINE: Without Sullivan, Jaguar would be in a very different place today.

PRESTON TUCKERAutomobile Designer, Entrepreneur
Tried to launch a car company with the rear-engine 1948 Tucker Torpedo sedan. Raised money by selling accessories before any Torpedoes were produced, earning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s attention. Convinced of a Big Three and government conspiracy, Tucker died in late ’56, six years after he was acquitted in an SEC trial.ETERNAL FAME: Jeff Bridges played him in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker.”

RON ZARELLAGM North America President, 1994-2001
Zarella’s dubious contribution was “brand management,” which grouped models together via platform (Lumina, Grand Prix, Intrigue, Regal, for example) rather than by division and posited that cars and trucks could be marketed like toothpaste or Bausch & Lomb (where he came from and fled to) contacts. Zarella drained whatever passion remained at General Motors.BONUS: On his way out, it was revealed Zarella had padded his resume.

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